Of suffering, innocence and hope

On December 17, I visited Gaza. Entering Gaza is in itself a harrowing experience. You pass through three checkpoints, one Israeli, the others manned by Fatah and Hamas. For a stretch of some 300 metres you are in no man’s land, consisting of a one lane corridor surrounded by turrets, barbed wire and monitored by armed guards and militia. The UN security people of British nationality who picked us up from the Israeli end were typically pragmatic. Their instructions were clear: Do not get out of the armoured vehicle we were in… unless it is set on fire. A welcoming briefing indeed!

I entered Gaza from the Erez crossing following a change in policy by the Israeli government allowing foreign ministers to visit the region after the December 2008 Cast Lead Operation. The scars of war are, to put it mildly, evident.

There has been a relaxation of some restrictions and more consumer goods are being allowed in, even though the shattered Gaza economy does not provide enough cash to go around to purchase them.

Since a few months ago, following much pressure from different sources, the previous policy of allowing only items on a restricted list has been changed to one of allowing everything in unless it is prohibited. But the list of prohibited items is too long: construction material is allowed only in small amounts. The consequence of all this is that the several projects funded by the international community and, particularly, by the European Union cannot materialise because of lack of construction material. Schools need to be built to accommodate thousands of children and youngsters yearning to learn.

Some statistics reveal the dire straits the Gaza population is in. Ninety per cent of available water is not fit for drinking; unemployment figures reach a staggering 40 per cent and 40,000 children will miss school this year for there are not enough schools following the destruction caused by the 2008 war between Israel and the Hamas. The fishermen of Gaza can only spread their nets within a restricted two-mile area from the shore when the Oslo agreement provides for a 20-mile fishing zone. Hamas is the de facto government in Gaza and it acts accordingly: it runs most of the schools; it controls entry of several goods through a labyrinth of tunnels mostly on the Gaza-Egyptian border. One businessman told me the restrictions on construction material in reality affects only the ordinary entrepreneur for Hamas can get what it wants through the elusive tunnel system. Hamas actually exacts tolls for passage through these tunnels, filling its coffers and, in the process, diverting towards itself revenue due to the legitimate Fatah government.

And, yet, amid the destruction and desolation there are also oases and patches of hope. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency, which has been in Gaza since Partition in 1947, runs its own schools and manages assistance of all sorts to Palestinian refugees. Incidentally, Gaza is one of the regions in the world with the highest population density: 1.2 million inhabitants in an area slightly larger than the size of the Maltese archipelago.

I met Oxfam representative and journalist Karl Schembri who has been bold enough to settle and work in Gaza in the most dire circumstances. He accompanied a group of Gaza Palestinians who studied or worked in Malta in the past and cherish sweet memories of their stay among us. I also visited the Sacred Family church in Gaza, which caters for the spiritual needs of a very small Catholic community in the Gaza Strip. It is run by a young energetic Catholic priest from Argentina. The compound, which embraces a school for 1,000 pupils, was partly damaged during the 2008 operation but it has since been repaired.

The international community, with the EU in the lead should strive for a betterment of these dire conditions. On December 16, Lady Ashton, the EU High Representative, appealed for an unconditional sustained and immediate opening of the crossings for humanitarian aid, people and exports.

Rather than pointing fingers at anyone, the efforts of the international community need to be directed at lifting the blockade as suggested by Lady Ashton for its is not acceptable that only a few hundred miles from the nearest EU border there is this open prison providing fertile ground for extremists to grow in numbers and become stronger to the detriment of the Middle East peace process.

Dr Borg is Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs.